#specifically that one scene in prisoner of azkaban

[nixster627]

Jin Ling: My dad didn't strut, and neither do I.

Wei Wuxian: We called him peacock for a reason.

[dinarosie]

Snape’s Legacy Goes Beyond His Flaws: part 1

I wrote this post to highlight moments when, despite his personal wounds, Snape still chooses to save the lives of the Marauders. My goal was to show how, no matter how flawed, Snape acts as a brave hero who prioritizes human life. The comments below genuinely surprised me, and they actually make me want to quote specific passages from the books to showcase Snape’s actions. I'm splitting this post into two parts, as including all the quotes from the books makes it quite long.

It’s honestly hilarious when some people keep telling: 'read the books,' while they seem blissfully unaware of how things actually go down in the story. One can only hope that one day they’ll realize fanfics aren’t the original books. Shocking, I know—but those are just fans playing with their own imagination, not a hidden version of the canon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, THE PRINCE’S TALE: dark night: He was accompanied by other hooded Death Eaters, and ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George. . . . A Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin’s back — “Sectumsempra!” shouted Snape. But the spell, intended for the Death Eater’s wand hand, missed and hit George instead — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, HERMIONE'S SECRET: “I don’t know — Harry, look at Snape!” Together they peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry, Hermione, and Black onto them. A fourth stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle.

Let me lay it out clearly: in this scene, Snape’s priority is to save the lives of four people and uphold justice:

Snape is taking the most honorable approach here. He knows that three of his students have directly disobeyed him, put themselves in harm’s way, and even teamed up with Black, a known fugitive, against his warnings. Yet he controls his anger because his first priority is their safety and getting them back to school unharmed.

Snape believes at this moment that Black has conspired with Voldemort, betrayed the Potters, orphaned their son, killed Pettigrew, and murdered twelve innocent Muggles. It’s no wonder he feels Black deserves the Dementor’s Kiss. Even Harry, when he believed these things about Black, felt that justice should be served and saw no issue in Black paying the price for such crimes. And remember, when Black learns the truth about Pettigrew, he’s furious enough to try to kill him on the spot. Yet, Snape has the composure and discipline to restrain his rage and sees it as his responsibility to bring Black back alive. He leaves the punishment to the legal system and to justice, refusing to take it into his own hands.

And let’s not forget: just an hour before, Sirius was openly willing to drag Snape’s unconscious body to the castle, fully prepared to bash Snape’s head against the ceiling—purely out of lingering childish hatred for Snape’s appearance and background. Sirius had no regard for the injuries he might inflict on Snape.

Barbara: I was very disappointed to see harry use crucio and seem to enjoy it his failure to perform that kind of curse in the past has been a credit to his character why the change, and did harry later regret having enjoyed deliberately causing pain J.K. Rowling: Harry is not, and never has been, a saint. Like Snape, he is flawed and mortal.

His character flaws don’t erase all the good he’s done or the impact he’s had. If you believe that being “flawed” or “grey” prevents someone from being a hero, then you’ve missed one of the core messages of the Harry Potter series. By that standard, no one in the books would be a hero because nearly every character has their own set of flaws. Even J.K. Rowling herself draws parallels between Snape and Harry, calling both of them imperfect. If you find Snape unforgivable, then logically, you’d have to find Harry Potter unforgivable, too.

Snape is a hero because he spends his life atoning for his mistakes. He stays on the right side even when there’s no personal gain, saving lives, healing others, and standing by his principles despite losing his way in darkness. He has the strength to return to the right path and stay loyal to it for years. Thanks to his courage and sacrifices, the wizarding world is freed from a dark wizard’s crimes. Because of him, innocent children like Harry aren’t left orphaned, and young mothers like Lily don’t lose their lives and families. Because of Snape’s loyalty, teenage souls like Draco Malfoy’s don’t get lost in darkness.

[annabtg]

You portray Sirius as this stud muffin that everyone was tripping over. It’s kinda vain as a women. Sirius not being able to recognize that his best friend/brother was in love with Lily Evans? Bruh, please. The whole fucken school knew. Sirius doesn’t have tattoos and he’s pretty much asexual in canon from what we know. Not in your fics because he’s fanon and not canon.

I shouldn't even publish this ask, because people will laugh at your lack of reading comprehension, but you started it and I love talking Sirius so here's a breakdown of your seven deadly sins:

1. You completely failed to understand the assignment. Fanon doesn't mean "written by a fan". Fanon means a prevalent version of a character or event which is not supported by canon. Fanon Sirius is a very specific phenomenon, ranted about by @artemisia-black here and summarized by me here. You have failed to provide any examples from my writing that allude to such a portrayal of Sirius.

2. Instead, you complained about my portrayal of Sirius and called it fanon, providing (a pathetic excuse of) examples that aren't anywhere in the fanon version of Sirius and are in fact much closer to canon Sirius. You might have been trying to call my Sirius OOC, but you're probably like twelve and have yet to learn your fandom terminology.

3. "You portray Sirius as this stud muffin that everyone was tripping over" that's canon actually. JKR goes out of her way to tell us how handsome and attractive he was pre-Azkaban every time it comes up:

His face wasn't sunken and waxy, but handsome, full of laughter. (Prisoner of Azkaban)

Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking, his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance neither James's nor Harry's could ever have achieved, and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed. (Order of the Phoenix)

Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so. (Order of the Phoenix)

(I'll stop here because I don't have my books with me and digging up the quotes is proving difficult.)

4. "It's kinda vain as a women" Can You Even English, Bro. Are you saying that I describe Sirius as a person who is as vain as a woman? If so you're not only incorrect, but also sexist.

5. "Sirius not being able to recognize that his best friend/brother was in love with Lily Evans?"

We're talking about My Best Friend's Girl, right? Here's the quote you've been searching for:

Sirius had sometimes thought that James might fancy Lily. He had caught him staring at her, he had noticed something particular in his tone of voice when he spoke to her; and yet, every time he had asked him, James had vehemently denied it.

And because I can't shut up about this story, here's another quote from that same scene:

“D’you think she likes you?”

“We’ll find out.” He grabbed another handful of beans out of the packet in his backpack and stuffed them in his mouth, watching James intently. He had returned to his studying, but he looked vexed. “D’you think I shouldn’t?” he asked.

“Who am I to stop you?” James muttered, his eyes still on his book.

Sirius shrugged to himself. If James insisted on taking it all in stride, he wasn’t going to miss his chance with a beautiful girl on a hunch.

Sirius is not stupid. He knows James has a thing for Lily. But it's not his place or his responsibility to do anything about that for a James that won't so much as acknowledge it to his best friend. And he definitely doesn't think that, just because James likes Lily, Lily shouldn't go out with anyone. She's a free girl and she can like a boy if she wants to, including one whose best friend has a crush on her. Bad luck, Prongs.

(I could talk at length about everyone's behaviour in this fic but I'd rather do that in a separate post and not in one addressing a rude anon.)

6. "Sirius doesn't have tattoos" Still waiting for any quote from any of my stories where he has a tattoo.

7. "he's pretty much asexual in canon from what we know" lack of a sexual relationship ≠ asexual. Your interpretation is not the only valid one.

Final grade: L for LURK MOAR.

[indigo-scarf]

“This is Crabbe and this is Goyle”: friends on last name basis?

How characters refer to one another is important in the Harry Potter books. The most blatant case for this is the main antagonist: Tom Riddle calls himself “Voldemort” to reflect his ambitions; his followers call him the “Dark Lord” out of reverence; the general wizarding population calls him “You-Know-Who” out of fear; Harry learns to call him “Voldemort” out of bravery; and Dumbledore keeps calling him “Tom” to dismiss his pretensions of grandeur.

Other examples include Lupin calling students by their first names because he’s the cool teacher; Lupin calling Snape “Severus” to be petty, while Snape calls Lupin “Lupin” to be petty; Draco calling his dad “Father” because he’s so posh; and of course, “Malfoy” and “Potter” highlighting the animosity between Draco and Harry.

In this context, the fact that Draco and the other Slytherin boys always call one another by their surnames serves to illustrate the kind of relationship they have, and to emphasise its contrast with Light Side friendships — an opposition integral to the story and especially to Draco’s character.

When Draco offers Harry his friendship, he introduces his colleagues and himself by their last names:

“Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,” said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. “And my name’s Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” (PS6)

This shows that even when Draco hopes he and Harry will have a good relationship, Harry is expected to call them “Malfoy”, “Crabbe” and “Goyle”. That is how Draco addresses his closest people (and reciprocity seems implicit):

“Crabbe,” [Malfoy] said. “Midnight all right? Well meet you in the trophy room; that’s always unlocked.” (PS9) “ — and he hit Goyle — look — ” (GF18) “I thought so,” [Malfoy] said jubilantly. “I heard Goyle’s trunk hit you.” (HBP7) “I would’ve had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn’t put them in detention!” (HBP15)

Even when they think they have privacy, the Slytherin boys stay on last name basis:

“You know I haven’t, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?” snapped Malfoy. (CS12) “Azkaban — the wizard prison, Goyle,” said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief. “Honestly, if you were any slower, you’d be going backward.” (CS12) “So, Zabini,” said Malfoy, “what did Slughorn want?” (HBP7) “I wouldn’t bank on an invitation,” said Zabini. “He asked me about Nott’s father when I first arrived.” (HBP7) “Look, it’s none of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!” (HBP18)

And even in the most vulnerable moment in Draco and Crabbe’s relationship, when Draco is in shock over Crabbe’s death, it’s still:

“C-Crabbe,” choked Malfoy as soon as he could speak. “C-Crabbe...” (DH31)

Such choice of surnames over first names adds to the portrayal of Slytherin as a stand-in for British public schools (where even true friends might avoid first names), but specifically in the Harry Potter world, it also reflects a particularly cold dynamic.

It is established throughout the books that Slytherins are are allies at best, not friends. There are two scenes that tell us how Slytherins operate in their natural habitat, when they don’t know Harry is spying on them, and neither is warm at all.

In year two, Hermione says Crabbe and Goyle are “Malfoy’s best friends” (CS12), which suggests she assumes they have a relationship not unlike the Trio’s — but that assumption is raised only to be subverted.

When Harry and Ron are disguised as Crabbe and Goyle, they find out that Draco constantly insults them, “snaps” at them, and demands specific reactions to what he says (CS12). 

In year six, in the Slytherin train compartment, Draco and Blaise compete to out-haughty each other, and “Goyle and Zabini were snarling at each other” (HBP7).

They don’t befriend people they like; they associate with people who come from pure bloodlines, or who can offer some kind of advantage. They see the world in terms of hierarchies, and surnames label people according to their social standing — which is what defines how they should be treated.

On the flipside, while surnames are a marker of prestige, first names are a tool of humiliation. This is the only time in all seven books when one is used among Slytherin boys:

“‘Must mean’?” Crabbe turned on Malfoy with undisguised ferocity. “Who cares what you think? I don’t take your orders no more, Draco. You an’ your dad are finished.” (DH31)

The power of the “Malfoy” name was the reason Crabbe kept Draco company. Now that that power is gone, he’s just some guy called “Draco”, so Crabbe drops him.

Growing up in such a cold environment is an essential part of what defines Draco’s character: it shapes his personality, his relationship with Harry, and his role in the story.

Draco has never had connections based on anything other than boasting to elevate himself and being spiteful to diminish others — and that’s what leads to Harry’s initial dislike of Draco at Madam Malkin’s, as well as the pivotal handshake blunder.

After that, a huge contributing factor to Draco and Harry’s unshakable animosity is Draco’s envy of the Trio. Not only does Draco hate being rejected in favour of Ron and Hermione, but he also resents that he can’t have what they have.

If Draco had real, first name basis friendships, he probably wouldn’t dedicate his entire school life to being a hateful bully, and he might not be so desperate for truly fulfilling validation as to seek it from Voldemort.

[im-jesus]

Confession:

one time me and my grandpa were watching the Harry Potter reunion documentary thing, and specifically during the scene where Sirius is kneeling in front of Harry in Prisoner of Azkaban, he said, "I could never do that." And of course he meant acting, doing all those things in front of all those lights and cameras. But me? I was 17, and I never really got the opportunity to be unfiltered or truly sarcastic, and my grandpa was 67 and he'd already had knee surgery. So the first words out of my mouth were, "what, kneel?" And that is the moment of my life he's most proud of.

[saintsenara]

Madam. Hi. I'm back.

I am so so curious to know your thoughts on the casting of the 'Marauders'-era characters in the films.

This thought process was triggered by your previous answer to an ask where you said you were not a fan of Alan Rickman as Snape. I personally think it would have impacted the storytelling quite profoundly if they had cast Harry's parents, and their friends, age-accurately.

A few reasons come to mind for me.

Re Lily and James. Not that the Potters' death wouldn't always have been tragic, but seeing 22-year-olds get killed would have definitely hit differently. And in Deathly Hallows p2, when the resurrection stone brings them back, they would have looked very close in age to Harry himself, and that would have hurt real bad to see, really putting things in perspective for the viewer. Basically I'm a slut for pain and I want tragedy and heartache and messy tears.

Re the teachers. This also applies to Remus, specifically, whom I afford a special place in all this. I know the teachers are supposed to be Adults in the eyes of children [the target audience for the first two-ish films], and characters like Lockhart, [who is btw canonically FOUR YEARS younger than James and Lily??] are supposed to serve that (very British) storytelling purpose of the Silly Adult, and later Evil Adult. Snape is also an Evil Adult, Mathilda-style, so I GET that children need to see them as Old People. BUT, children view anyone over the age of 20 as adults??? So like, 30-ish year old teachers look very mature to them and can serve this purpose just fine imho. Anyways, I digress. The reason I would want them to be younger, as they should have been according to the text, simply has to do with the audience relating to them. These are just different stories when these people are in their 20s and 30s when Harry is a kid. Also, the first generation of HP fans would now be their age, opening up a whole new avenue of feelings when watching the films. Watching the films as a kid and identifying with the children vs. watching it as in your 20s and 30s and identifying with Harry's dead parents, Snape, Lupin, etc., would be such a wonderful thing to feel!!!

Re. Sirius. The above points mentioned all obviously also apply to Sirius, but I still think he warrants a special mention. Being 33 and having spent the past 12 years in Azkaban and DYING aged 35??? It's just a different story than a middle-aged man imho. I hope I don't sound terribly ageist, because of course dying at 45 is premature, but it's still different, yknow?

A final, petty note. The chronology of it makes no sense. When we meet him, Gary Oldman's Sirius is not a boy who was sent to prison aged 21, where he has been for the past 12 years. There's a good 10 years missing there by the looks of him, so what's up? Same with Lily and James, it just cracks me up that these people look middle-aged. What do you mean they look middle-aged, they've done nothing but graduate from school and DIE????

These are my countless cents on the matter, and I am very curious to know your thoughts if you would be so kind as to share.

i don't love a couple of the performances [not just alan rickman's, but gary oldman's], but i've been forced into neutrality on the actual casting ever since the films came out by the twist of fate that one of my best friends has never read the books.

[and - in a sign of just how culturally dominant harry potter was in the 2000s - is the only person my age i've ever met who hasn't.]

and seeing her try to understand the films was a trip...

i think those of us who started with the books - or read the books quite soon after seeing the films - don't realise quite how hard the films are to follow if you have no understanding of the basic outline of the story. which is to say, i agree that something is lost in not casting the marauders generation age-accurately - the great tragedy of the priori incantatem or resurrection stone scenes in the book versions of goblet of fire and deathly hallows, for example, is that harry and james are basically indistinguishable because james died when he was only a few years older than harry - but, since the films needed to be accessible not only to people who'd never read the books, but to people who'd never seen another film in the series, the very obvious visual distinction between the two generations makes it easier to understand who's who. if - in the philosopher's stone film - harry had looked into the mirror of erised and seen an age-accurate james, many viewers would - i think - have assumed he was looking at his future self, meaning either that the running time would need to be increased so that it could be explained that he wasn't, or the audience would have to be left not understanding the emotional heft of what they'd just seen.

a longer-form adaptation - if they ever make the tv show, not that i'll watch it if they do - will have the space to do the casting age-accurately [and will also, i imagine, feel less beholden to shoehorning in as many british establishment luvvies as possible]. but the films get a pass on this one, i fear.

[victimeyez]

HI BACK AT YOU.

What was your whump awakening? Like when you really realized “ohhhhh. I like this.”

Oh boy oh boy. I don’t know that there was ever a specific moment, but a lot of things that started when I was very young. This is very long rip

I was intensely fascinated with torture scenes and concepts - you get exposed to a shocking amount of that even as a kid, bc gore is fine as long as there isn’t a hint of normal human sex involved. Don’t take my card, but I did grow up reading the HP series. The first big book I read was Prisoner of Azkaban, so there was a lot of themes of torture and captivity there.

I also was very fixated on the forms of magical torture utilized, like how Neville’s parents were tortured until they completely broke as people. I made OCs that were cursed with magical pain and torment. I’m showing my weird side fully now but I looooved Lucious Malfoy. I dug the long blond hair and the wicked cane and how mean and terrible he was.

Star Wars was a big one later on, my weirdly piqued interest in Darth Vader being a horrible boss and being referred to as “master” and “my lord”.

Even the Princess Bride Torture scene, I was scared to watch it but couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I started writing a book in middle school that was very whump, although I didn’t have that term or an understanding of that kind of genre at the time. It was an odd plot. Not worth rewriting, but it’s funny to look back. While I was writing, I felt a certain excitement I couldn’t place. The closest I guessed was that I was such an empath that writing it “hurt” me, but that I enjoyed it so much for some reason. Pain was not what that feeling in my stomach was, I guess people here call them whumperflies.

I didn’t know anything about whump until….2020? I don’t even know how I stumbled upon it, but once I started to learn about the community, it was this huge relief like, “oh I’m not the only person who likes this! Lots of people like this! I’m not crazy!”

Been here since!

[russell-crowe]

Movie Asks:

37, 60, 69 :)

37. Movie quote that will always make you laugh?

Honestly the scene from Twister (1996) where Bill and Dusty stand outside of the dinner and Bill's like "Going green" and Dusty just says "Greenage" always cracks me up. There are so many lines in the movie that are trying to actually be funny but this single dialogue always has me chuckling. It's also living in my mind rent free whenever I'm on storm chase and encounter turquoise or green hues in the sky. (but with far less time to ponder over it as it usually means we have to find suitable cover for the incoming hail)

60. Most visually stunning movie you’ve seen?

I've answered this already but I will think of which Crowe movie I specifically like in terms of visuals. [thinking hat] While I do not really like the colouring of Cinderella Man (2005) in every scene, it is one of the movies I am very impressed by when it comes to how they shot things, I suppose. I just really, really like the way they did the fighting scenes. They feel realistic, I love the blurred effects and men covered in blood are just peak cinema. I also just really loved watching the making of of this particular one. It is not a movie I would freezeframe every still of, but purely based on technicality I really like it :)) but there are a lot of pretty movies with Russell in it. <3 69. The main movie you remember from your childhood?

Twister (1996), Dante's Peak (1997), Mrs Doubtfire (1993) and Bean (1997). Maybe this explains why I love 90s movies so much. :^)

and I also have such a distinct memory of watching Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) with my cousin and my brother at my grandparents farm. I can even feel the texture of their carpet and smell the kitchen/living room smell and imagine the fabric from my grandfather's chair. I have not rewatched any HP since the whole JKR thing, but in a way I am not... opposed to reclaiming this large part of my childhood - but just in private. Especially the first two movies have offered me a lot of comfort and my crush on Alan Rickman as Snape was my very first movie crush. (That also explains a lot)

[daeneryssansa]

tagged by @rosaliehale thank you so much for tagging me :)

a creation for every month of 2022 - post your favorite and/or most popular post from each month this year (ok to skip months)

my sets were definitely a little weak this year, i did a lot of bw/scene specific and less artistic/blending stuff but here goes, these were some of my faves:

january - this prisoner of azkaban set

february - this one for ted lasso appreciation week

march - ladies of ouat for tv women appreciation week

april - pirates of the caribbean

may - kenobi, obi wan talking about padme

june - kenobi/rebels obi wan/ahsoka parallel

july - up pastel set

august - scene from the omitb finale

september - scene from hocus pocus 2

october - alexis rose set

november - disenchanted set

december - alexis rose set

tagging: i literally never know who to tag in these so please do this if you see this and say i tagged you :)

[moonlightdancer26]

I don't understand people who justify their hatred of Severus by using "he was Neville's boggart despite it being Bellatrix torturing Neville's parents" and then turning around and stanning Bellatrix Lestrange.

Me neither. Not to mention they’re disregarding so many things, such as:

The Boggart scene was used for comic relief and to show how mild the other students’ fears were when compared to Pottah’s, and it took place in Prisoner of Azkaban; Bellatrix wasn’t even introduced to the story yet.

Neville was never afraid of Bellatrix, he loathes her just like Harry loathes HairlessTort. Neville was of course angry and upset over what happened to his parents, but he was never afraid of her. Unfortunately—but unsurprisingly—a majority of this fandom cannot seem to comprehend the distinction.

No matter how much they preach about Snape “torturing” Neville, Bellatrix tortured Neville’s parents into insanity, which led him to be raised by his emotionally abusive family, hence making him the scared, peaky boy with an inferiority-complex that made him oh-so scared of Snape in the first place. But of course, the true dictating factor as to why they stan Bella whilst trashing Snape is because one is attractive and the other is not.

Those people—more specifically, most Marauder stans—are plainly admitting that they’re alright with bad things being done if the perpetrator is attractive (Regulus, the Riddler Tom Riddle, Bellatrix, the Marauders’ fancasts, a lot of the times Draco, etc etc). I can’t even begin to explain how bloody messed up it is.

[martelldoran]

WHAT'S THE CAUSALITY LOOP THEORY

Why Emma, thank you so much for asking. I’m not going to waste time before jumping into this because this is gonna get long so without further ado...

Steve Rogers’ Ending and How Endgame Doesn’t Support a Causality Loop and other such rambles

Last month, I came across a TikTok that proposed that Steve’s ending made sense because it existed within a causality loop. I would link the TikTok but I didn’t save it at the time and trying to find videos on that app is impossible. You think Tumblr’s search function is bad? 🙄 But I digress. The TL;DR of the video is that due to time travel and Steve choosing to go back in time to be Peggy’s husband, it created a causality loop where he was always meant to be her husband because he went back in time and stayed there. The TikToker supported his argument by using Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA), another film that uses time travel and has a clearly defined example of a causality loop. However, his argument is fundamentally flawed so I’m going to combine my knowledge of my two biggest fandoms to tell you why.

Continued under the cut because I have no chill. Beware, it's long.

To first tell you how Endgame (EG) doesn’t support a causality loop, we must establish how PoA does establish one and does it successfully. The TikToker specifically mentions the scenes that take place at Hagrid’s Hut surrounding Buckbeak the hippogriff’s execution, so we’ll look at those first. What the film does really well is establish early on that there is something weird going on well before anyone actually goes back in time. There are three things that happen in quick succession during this scene which sets up the causality loop we see later in the film. First, a rock flies through the window and breaks a jar. Second, another rock hits Harry in the back of the head. Third, once outside, Hermione hears a branch snap and thinks she sees ‘something’. There are also two additional moments later on in the film once the Harry, Ron, and Hermione have come out of the Shrieking Shack which should also be noted: a wolf howl that distracts Remus Lupin in werewolf form from attacking the group and somebody casting a full-bodied stag patronus at the edge of the lake to save Harry and Sirius from the Dementors.

Of these occurrences, the first is arguably the most important because it does the most to establish that there is something going on outside of the Trio’s current understanding of their situation. The film makes a point to frame the jar breaking as Important Information the Audience Must Remember because it shows a visibly confused Hermione reacting to it as she picks up the rock for closer inspection and we the audience are given close up of it in her hand. Not only is it framed front and centre in the shot but the rock itself is very distinctive. It’s almost wholly smooth but for a swirl of fossil, thus marking it as not just any rock but An Important Rock To Be Remembered. This was an intentional choice by director Alfonso Curon because he uses this rock to connect this moment to its mirrored scene later on once Harry and Hermione use the Time Turner.

The audience and the characters find out about the causality loop at the same time. There are clearly stated rules of time travel that say that they aren’t to meddle with time but when Harry and Hermione see that Dumbledore, the Minister for Magic, and the executioner are on their way to Hagrid’s hut they panic because their counterparts aren’t leaving. Then, we see Hermione notice something in the pumpkin patch: a distinctive rock, smooth with a swirl of fossil. Again, we see have a close up shot with the rock centred to show its importance. Stylistically, it’s very similar to the shot we saw earlier in the film which gives the audience an emotional pay off for noticing the connection. When Hermione throws the rock and breaks the jar, it sets the causality loop in motion. The jar was always going to break because they went back in time to throw the rock that breaks it.

And it’s the same with all the other instances. Hermione throws the second rock that hits Harry in the back of the head to alert him to the fact they need to get out of the hut. Hermione snaps the branch and is almost seen by her counterpart in the past. Hermione makes the wolf call to distract Lupin from attacking. Harry, and not his father as he had assumed, casts the patronus to save himself and Sirius from the Dementors. But each of these moments are set up clearly in the ‘first run through’ to set up their payoff when the characters realise, ‘Oh, I did these things. They were always meant to happen.’ From a narrative standpoint, these are planned out moments to clue the audience into the fact that there’s something bigger at play. It keeps them ‘in the loop’ as it were.

This doesn’t happen in EG.

To successfully have set up a causality loop that made sense and had the same kind of set up and pay off as we see in PoA, it would have had to have been established as early as 2014 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (CA:TWS). This does not happen. One of the main themes of CA:TWS is moving on from the past. Peggy Carter herself even says, “I’ve lived my life, my only regret is that you didn’t get to live yours.” Then saying soon after, “Sometimes the best thing we can do is to start over.” Peggy’s character in Captain America: The First Avenger is set up as someone who acts as the backup/back bone of Steve’s own moral compass. When Steve falters at Azzano about what to about the captured 107th, Peggy is there to remind him of what is right. She serves a similar narrative function in CA:TWS. Steve is struggling with life in the present. He’s just seen the helecarriers and argued with Nick Fury about protection vs fear after the botched Lumerian Star mission. Morally, he’s in turmoil and has turned to Peggy for council because he’s trying to find purpose in world where his rigid morality seems to have no place.

From the point of view of creating a causality loop, one would think that this scene in the hospital would be the place where an initial set-up could be made and alert the audience to the long term plan for Steve’s character. Instead, we have Peggy mourning the fact that Steve didn’t get to live his life the way it should have played out, and why would a woman who has supposedly been married to another version of Steve tell him to move on? In addition, when Steve visits the Smithsonian, he watches a video where he sees Peggy talking about how he influenced her life and how during one of his missions, he saved the man that would go on to become her husband. This is the only mention of Peggy’s husband in the entire franchise until Steve reappears as an old man at the end of EG.

Captain America: Civil War (CA:CW) also offers an opportunity to set up the causality loop at Peggy’s funeral but again, this does not happen. The only family we are introduced to is Sharon Carter, Peggy’s grand-niece. When it comes to filmmaking, every choice made is intentional. From the hair and makeup to the clothes, to the music used, everything in a film means something whether it is to further character development, world-building, or the plot. Filmmakers have a limited amount of time to convey a story and anything that doesn’t matter isn’t shown. Therefore, we can conclude from the text of the film that Peggy’s husband doesn’t matter to the narrative. The person in Peggy’s family who matters to the narrative is Sharon Carter which is why she is given prominence during CA:CW’s funeral scene. Had the causality loop been set up here, there would have been a defining moment like in PoA where the audience is clued into the larger story arc. Maybe someone says something, or he meets his older self, but that doesn’t happen. It should also be noted that apart from a small scene in Ant Man, Peggy isn’t mentioned again until EG.

In Endgame itself, the film still fails to set up a causality loop. It could be argued that this is the most important film for the set-up because this is when the audience gets the payoff. The first thing we see after the 5-yer time jump is Steve in a group therapy session for those that survived Thanos’ snap. Survivors share their stories and Steve talks about Peggy, a woman who has been dead in canon for 7-years and who died of old age. It’s incongruous and sticks out because narratively it doesn’t make sense for him to talk about her and not someone he watched disintegrate in front of his eyes. Steve watches his best friend and hundreds of others turn to ash around him and that film ends on his horrified face as he sits by his best friend’s ashes. Narratively, this is the thread that should carry through to EG but instead, he talks about missing his chance with Peggy. However, unlike PoA, there is no indication whether through dialogue or framing that clues the audience into Steve’s eventual ending at the end of the film.

Even when he goes back to the 70s, we see him looking mournfully at Peggy through the blinds in her office and a picture of him, pre-serum, on her desk. Steve and Peggy’s relationship prior to Endgame is supposed to represent the bittersweet loss of the life he could have had had he not sacrificed himself to the cause in CA:TFA. Then, since the audience knows from Steve and Peggy’s conversation in the hospital in CA:TWS that she moved on from Steve to live a happy life, we can assume that this picture is meant as nothing more than a fond memento of someone that meant a lot to her. Once more, there is no indication that Steve is ever meant to be her husband.

It’s impossible to infer a causality loop here in the same way as we saw in PoA. In PoA, there is a payoff for every single unusual or weird moment the story presents the audience before and after the use of time travel but this is something that’s completely absent from Endgame’s narrative. Steve himself doesn’t even vocalise a desire to go back in time at any point in EG nor at any point during the other films he appears in. In fact, when questioned by Tony Stark about the possibility of ‘going home’ in Avengers: Age of Ulton, he says, “The guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago. I think someone else came out.” While it is indicative of his unhappiness in the modern-day, it does indicate a level of acceptance of the fact that this is his life and he has to make his peace with it. He’s taken what Peggy said in CA:TWS on board. He’s starting over and moving on.

With time travel, and Steve choosing to stay in the past came the fan theory that one of the pallbearers carrying Peggy’s casket in CA:CW is Old Man Steve, her husband. When presented with this fan theory, writer Christopher Markus said during an interview with the LA Times at SDCC 2019,

“I would very much like that. There is no set explanation for Cap’s time travel . . .I mean, we’ve had public disagreements with [directors Anthony and Joe Russo] about what it [time travel] necessarily means, but I love the idea of there being two Steve Rogers in the timeline. One who lived a long life with Peggy and is in the background of that funeral scene watching his young self carry his wife’s coffin up. Not just for the time travel mumbo jumbo of it, but for the just weird, personal pain and satisfaction that would be happening between two Steve Rogers there. I kind of love it.” [emphasis mine]

This shows that unlike in PoA there was no intention of creating a causality loop prior to Markus writing EG with his writing partner Stephen McFeely. In fact, it makes clear that the actual rules of time travel were in contention and that even those making the film didn’t have a unified idea of what they wanted to create in the first place. The fact that there is confusion surrounding EG's time travel is due to the fact that the people behind it, didn't seem to know what they were writing or consider the consequences of it.

What all of this shows is that an argument of a PoA style causality loop doesn’t hold water. The film doesn’t support it, nor do any of the previous films, because there aren’t any indicators for the audience to latch onto. There is no moment of the rock breaking the jar, or the patronus chasing away the dementors, no moment where that the audience is told to hold into this information for later because there’s some timey wimey stuff going on. Ultimately, when examined, there is no set-up for a causality loop that supports the theory he was always supposed to go back and be Peggy’s husband, particularly when examined against a film that successfully lays it out from the start.

Right, the more academic (lol) part of this post is done. I just want to address one more TikTok that bothered me because I have opinions and MCU Captain America is my Mastermind specialist subject.

The TL;DR of this one was that Steve’s ending made sense because he got out of the fight and was at peace and that that has been the ultimate goal of his character arc. This person argued that Steve used the Avengers to distract himself from the fact that he’s this man out of time and he can’t find peace without a fight which to some extent, I agree with. I don’t deny that that is a major driving force to his story. We see that in Age of Ultron with his WandaNightmare. I don’t deny that that is key to his character. However, this creator then made a comment at the end of this video to the tune of, ‘bUt BuCkY iS hIs StOrY aRc’ and tried to play it off like this wasn’t true or that people were wrong to think that this is the case.

These two things aren’t mutually exclusive. They’re both true. They’re intertwined. But you cannot say that Bucky Barnes isn’t at the heart of Steve Rogers’ story. Bucky was the catalyst for every single one of Steve’s movies. He becomes CA because of Bucky. He goes against SHIELD because of Bucky. He defies 107 countries and the Sokovia Accords because of Bucky. You take Bucky out of the equation and what do you have? What happens in those films if you take Bucky Barnes out of the equation? Viewing it objectively, and even without shipper goggles on, you simply cannot sit there and claim that Bucky Barnes isn't a defining component to Steve’s story. Steve Rogers is motivated by Bucky Barnes. Steve Rogers is motivated by the depth of their relationship and the fact that Bucky Barnes is one of the few things connecting his new present to his old life.

You can definitely see the fact that Steve is uncomfortable in the modern world. He doesn’t address any of his trauma but he still attempts to move on. However, if they wanted him getting out of the fight and finding life as a civilian to be the natural end to his story arc then there was a way to do it which didn’t require him going back to Peggy. It would have been a better and more satisfying ending if he’d actively chosen to retire because I often see the argument that him going back to Peggy is him finally allowing him to be selfish after shouldering so much over the past decade or more. If Steve chose to retire and put himself first, then that sends a better message. He’s still getting the chance to ‘be selfish’ but he’s not throwing the life he’s built away. At this point in EG, he’s spent a huge portion of his adult life in the modern-day. This isn’t the future for him anymore, it’s the present and he’s lived a life and made real connections with people. The MCU does a piss poor job of showing the interpersonal relationships between the Avengers but he is at least shown to be friends with Sam, Nat, and Bucky.

But he goes back to a delusion. Or an idea of something that was never his in the first place.

When I see people make these videos and share their opinions, I can see their points but it’s like they’re taking EG on its own when that's impossible. Endgame only ‘works’ if you have the context of 10 years’ worth of films. You have to at least be somewhat familiar with the characters, who they are and what they’ve done up until now to be able to make sense of it.

However, in saying that, they wrote and filmed the movie in a way to make you think you didn’t have to take into account anything you’ve seen in the past ten years. If you only watch Endgame, you only see a grieving man mourning the love he never had. You see a man, regretful that he didn’t get to be with woman he loved. So at the end, of course it would make sense that he goes back to her. But you can only do that if you completely divorce Endgame from its ten-year canon and in a franchise like this where they make a big deal about everything being interconnected, it simply doesn’t work. Steve’s story arc in Endgame is incongruous to the narrative arc we’ve been presented in previous films.

Ultimately, Endgame is a movie you’re supposed to watch once and then not think about again. It’s made for that first viewing when everything is shocking and exciting because if you stop to think about it even a little bit, it falls apart under scrutiny.

Finally, I think that the downfall of a lot of these ‘Steve’s ending makes sense’ posts is that made by people who are most certainly MCU fans but not Steve Rogers fans and it shows.

[celestialsister0918]

I’m a writer and avid reader of Sirius Black and Severus Snape smut. Mostly with OCs, sometimes together. Links to my Masterlist are in this pinned post. I’m best known for the Wizarding World Romance series, which is a fairly canon-compliant parallel to Harry Potter Books 5, 6, and 7, but allows for Severus and Sirius to live actual lives, fall in love with their amazing wives, and learn to forgive each other. The series is full of smut (some very Explicit) but also full of heart.

I also write for other Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman characters as you’ll see at the bottom of the Masterlist.

Check out my links below! I will also post excerpts and gems here. At some point I MIGHT begin taking requests. :) New to Tumblr, so I appreciate your follows, likes and reblogs! Love to chat with fellow writers and wizard/Alan/Gary lovers, so always feel free to drop me a line.

Masterlist:

Wizarding World Romance series AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialsister0918/series

Link to Book 1: https://www.wattpad.com/story/286962218

Link to Book 2: https://www.wattpad.com/story/291477376

Link to Book 3: https://www.wattpad.com/story/298421816

One-Shots and Outtakes from Wizarding World Romance:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/304834082

Tattooed Knuckles: A Sirius Black Short Story:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/298285094

Submissioner Gordon (Jim Gordon x OC, The Dark Knight):

https://www.wattpad.com/story/311662991

Daddy Issues: Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman Character Imagines:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/311362442

[jae-duhb]

Kazuha Whump in the Wizarding World

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Kazuha used the Killing Curse on Raiden Ei, the Lady Shogun of Japan's Magical Shogunate. Her discriminatory decree against half-bloods and muggle-born persons lead to Tomo, his lover w/ no magical ancestors, declaring a duel before her throne. The stipulations said that his victory meant the abolishment of the decree, but if the Lady Shogun won, he would accept death by her wand. To no one's surprise, Tomo lost.

As Raiden Ei prepared to cast the Killing Curse, Kazuha struck her w/ one of his own before she could even point her wand at Tomo. Everyone was in shock, esp. himself. He hadn't thought; he only moved and saved Tomo from death. Onlookers screamed in horror and fled the scene, others barked out orders to seize the lovers both, but the only thing that Kazuha cared about was Tomo's look of betrayal. He'd brought shame upon a duel of honor and murdered the Lady Shogun. The Kaedehara wizard was a gifted legilimens, but he didn't need the ability to mindread to understand the severity of his actions. As Shogunate officers closed in on them, Kazuha drug his dearest to the nearest fireplace and narrowly escaped the Magical Shogunate. Outside, Tomo condemned him and severed their relationship.

The consequences that followed this incident were the capture of both men; a trial overseen by the new Lord Shogun, Kamisato Ayato; and the absolution of Tomo on the grounds that the duel was sabotaged by a third party. Kazuha plead and was found guilty, but instead of the traditional punishment of seppuku for such a grievous crime, he was sentenced to eternity in Japan's version of Azkaban.

It was an underground facility guarded by baku, yokai that ate dreams and nightmares alike, but these specific ones were trained to eat only dreams. Thus, prisoners could only experience terrifying, horrifying things when they slept. You were very lucky if you didn't dream at all.

Kazuha was thrown into his cramped cell, stripped down and reclothed in a simple white kimono. You might've mistaken it for a pathetic excuse of a furisode, but this garment was enchanted; its long sleeves forced the wearer to have their arms crossed in front of them and bound them close to the body at all times except mealtimes. (You had to eat fast before they reset.) It was also rather heavy for what it appeared to be. On top of this standard wear, hwvr, Kazuha had a blindfold tied tightly around his head.

His guess was that it was a precaution. He was a known legilimens, one of the most talented of his generation, and it made sense that they wanted to protect the guards from his influence. If you asked him, tho, he'd tell you it was entirely unnecessary. If he escaped, where would he run off to? What sort of life could he live? More importantly, who would be waiting for him?

Oh, that's right: no one.

[potterscar]

how would you rank the Harry Potter movies?🥰

hi! first of all this actually took me forever to answer bc it’s so hard for me to decide lol,, let me just state this is very different from my book ranking so yeah❤️ from the bottom to the top:

8. goblet of fire- sorry but this one is honestly hard for me to watch unless i specifically keep telling myself it’s a separate thing from the book because it’s such a poor adaption :/

7. half blood prince- kinda the same thing bc the book is so amazing and so much important stuff is left out and i feel like they kinda tried to make it a cute romance story and erased a lot of the voldemort lore also wtf was that burrow scene?

6. deathly hallows pt 2- this has no reason except that it makes me cry really hard every time i watch it for many reasons but i love it

5- sorcerers stone- OKAY THIS IS GETTING HARD I FREAKING LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH it’s only 5 because i simply like the other 4 better but i love this movie so much

4- prisoner of azkaban- DONT KILL ME I LOVE THIS MOVIE it’s only bc the other 3 are so comforting to me,, this has everything i love: hermione girl boss, wolfstar, snape being snape, etc but the reason it’s not 1 or 2 is bc i think this is where the dumbification of ron kinda started in the films and it really erased his character :/ like wtf he got detention for defending hermione when snape calls her a know it all but in the movie he says “he’s got a point”? ron would never

3- chamber of secrets- this is my nostalgic comfort movie it was my fav when i was a kid so i just love it so much it’s so cute and wholesome and the ENDING I LOVE

2- deathly hallows pt 1- this is probably a controversial choice but listen i love this movie so much idk why but it’s SO GOOD i just love it i feel like since there was pt 2 they were able to give us tons of the backstory from the books i love it

1- order of the phoenix- this is my favorite movie, it’s so good and it’s got everything: the weasley twins (fred❤️), golden trio, harry being a teacher, sirius 💔, bellatrix, THE MINISTRY BATTLE, the department of mysteries it’s all perfect despise umbridge

[dottielovegood]

20 Questions Writer’s Edition

Thank you for tagging me @fawnandshadows Sorry that it took me a small eternity to answer these questions. 1) How many works on AO3? 5 I am quite new to writing fanfiction. I started writing this April. 2) AO3 total word count? 195,774 Wow. That's a lot. For reference, here's the word count for the Harry Potter books: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – 76,944 words Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – 85,141 words Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – 107,253 words Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 190,637 words Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 257,045 words Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – 168,923 words Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – 198,227 words

(I love being able to say that I've written something that is longer than some of the HP books) 3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? Only ACOTAR so far. And only Elriel. But I would like to write for some other fandoms at some point. 4) Top five works by kudos? 1. Pretty Little Angel 2. Please 3. ASMR 4. Happy Halloween 5. The bet 5) Do you respond to comments, why or why not? I try to! At first when I started writing, I didn't reply to most comments because I didn't know that people usually replied to comments. I mainly replied if someone asked something or commented on something specific in the chapter. However, I do try to answer all/most comments now because I have realized how much I like it when people reply to my comments :) I do know that I suck at replying, and sometimes I just forget (or it can take WEEKS). I am, unfortunately, the same with messages from like friends and family, so just be happy that you have never tried to text me. I am the absolute worst when it comes to texting (and replying to comments.) But I read every single one of them and they really make my days <3

6) Fic with angstiest ending? None. I like happy endings. And honestly, I am a bit afraid of receiving hate if I wrote something with an angsty ending. 7) Happiest Ending? All of them. (I haven't finished Pretty Little Angel yet, but I think it will have a happy ending too) 8) Do you write crossovers? What is the craziest one? No, not really. Unless my Halloween fic where Azriel and Elain dress up as Rey and Kylo can be considered a crossover? But I don't think so. So no. 9) Ever received hate on a fic? No, thank god. I don't deal with criticism (or hate/drama) very well. 10) Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. All of my fics are more or less smutty. What kind? I guess the kinky kind with a lot of praise. 11) Ever had a fanfic stolen? Nope! 12) Ever had a fic translated? No. I didn't know that people translated fics? That's kind of cool! But I don't think I would want someone else to translate my work. I'm too much of a control freak, and I have a hard time trusting translations. (Probably because I have studied language and translation and KNOW how difficult it is to translate correctly.) 13) Ever co-written a fic? No. Or actually. Yes! I took a creative writing course at Uni where we had to write collaborative fanfiction (Yes. It's true!). But apart from that, no. I have not. And I don't think I will. 14) All time favorite ship? Reylo! (I mainly read reylo fanfics actually) I also like Elriel and Dramione. 15) What is a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? I don't have very many WIPs. If I start something, I will try to finish it! However I did start writing a Nesta/Amren fic once, but I only wrote like half a page before giving up. So maybe that's my WIP that I will never finish? 16) Writing Strengths? Smut? and I think I'm pretty good at writing dialogue, and I get a lot of positive comments about my characterization, so I guess I'm good at that too? (I've always been very bad at seeing my own strengths...) 17) Writing weaknesses? I find it very difficult to write kissing scenes (hence why it took like 24 chapter for them to kiss in PLA, hehe). But my biggest weakness is probably the fact that English is a foreign language to me. I don't speak it daily (but I do speak it a few times a week for work), and even though most people speak English quite well in my country, we don't really speak English to each other in our every day life. I did study English at university, but I still feel that I am lacking. And since I tend to compare myself to English writers, it's very easy for me to criticize my own language skills (even though I know that my English is very good). I feel that I repeat the same phrases quite often, and that I use the same words over and over again, even though I try to be mindful of repetitions and synonyms and such. 18) what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in fic? Hmm... I only like it if the author translates the dialogue. (I also think that the author should know the language to some degree and not use google translate). I prefer it if the translation is given naturally in the context of the fic, but I'm okay with providing the translation in the end notes. 19) What was the first fandom you wrote for? If I told you, I would have to kill you. No, but honestly. That information goes with me to my grave. It's too embarrassing. But I can say that it was for a band I liked when I was like 16. It was not a cool band. 20) What is your favorite fic you’ve written? Pretty Little Angel. Even though it's like 80% smut, I'm quite proud of it. Especially since people seem to like it. When I first started writing it, I didn't think people would read it since I wasn't a part of this fandom or anything at the time. I think that I've written Elain and Azriel very well in this fic, and I have tried to stay true to their characters, so that's why PLA is my favorite. I also think that some of the smutty chapters are very sexy :)

--- I tag anyone who has ever wanted to be tagged in one of these lists.

[goddessofmischief]

Amora in Blue Monday: Headcanons

As a Kid

* Born in Vanaheim

* Her parents are █████ and █████

* When Odin first brings her to Asgard, Thor would be awkward around her

* She’s probably the one person he can’t charm

* So Loki immediately calls dibs like ‘my person’

* He’ll literally do whatever it takes to win her over

* Which ends up not being all that difficult

* Odin doesn’t want her to read so Loki just gives 24/7 access to his library

* Friendship begun

* Definitely wanted to be a Valkyrie as a kid

* Cried for a week when she found out they were extinct

Teenager

* Odin regrets everything

* He def thought that her being a magic user would be a good thing, because she’d marry Thor and it’d be like him and Frigga

* But whoops, she’s #TeamLoki

* Amora gets hopelessly bullied by Sif and the Warriors Three (except Hogun, who she has a book club with)

* Loki teaches her to fight

* Fandral gets really impressed by this and becomes her first-ever boyfriend

* They’re just really cute together and he’s sweet, but she dumps him for not knowing who Shakespeare is

* Absolutely demolishes Loki at chess

* Loki just knows she cheats

* Two magical teenagers who are secretly in love with each other = chaotic

* Awkward pranks

* Basically that scene in Prisoner of Azkaban when Hermione accidentally grabs Ron’s hand

* Loki starts having *feelings* * And reacts by shutting her out and being moody

* Romantic confession

* Basically the same dynamic as before but with obnoxious kissing and reading together while the other’s head rests on the other’s shoulder

* Loki reenacts the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet

* Thor thinks their relationship is incredible and can’t wait for her to be his sister-in-law

* Loki *throws a fit at a ceremonial occasion*

* Thor: *gestures vaguely at Amora* go fix him

* They’re about to be legal adults on Asgard, they’re gonna get married, everything is going great

* But oh boy

* Trouble up ahead

* Odin springs the engagement

Adult

* Loki sulks in his room for two weeks

* Refuses to see anyone until Amora slides a note under his door

* She just kinda sits on his bed with him for awhile, holds his hand and tells him everything’s gonna be okay

* Amora goes to talk to Thor

* Thor is honestly really mad because even though he had a tiny crush on her when they were like sixteen, he doesn’t feel that way anymore

* And it probably wasn’t because he actually loved her, it was more about the fact that she was the Most Beautiful Woman in Asgard™

* So they agree to break it off

* There’s a lot of trickery involved with wrecking the engagement but I won’t spoil it

* Once she and Thor break Odin’s proposed engagement, they have the softest and greatest friendship

* Literally just making jokes about Loki all the time

* Amora, Thor and Hogun are the chaotic trio the world deserves, tbh

* Loki’s about to propose

* Whoops, more trouble up ahead

* Because the Trials are happening

* What are the Trials, you may ask? You’ll wish you hadn’t

* It’s a series of competitions held to determine the Asgardian Captain of the Guard

* Amora wants this so badly

* Guess what? So does Loki

* Who is a terrible loser

* Amora really wants to win so that she can actually prove herself as part of the Royal Family, and not just for marrying a prince

* Loki wants to win so he can command the army and be equal to Thor

* A lot of fighting occurs over this

* Loki thinks she should drop out

* Amora thinks he should drop out

* Amorki’s in trouble, you guys

* Not much more can be revealed because plot, but I will take specific questions if anyone wants to know anything about these guys, I love ‘em